Member
Orichalcum
19 Years After Arrival
He had not been wrong. He had knew it had been coming, he had felt it in his bone for years. His father had done his best, trying to quiet the murmurs that had been spreading in court from both loyalist and dissenters alike. The ruling family had been falling out of favor for many years, the acts of the Emperor and his children had grown more and more abominable, and a people that are preyed upon are not always composed of sheep. Men could be wolfs, their fangs sharpening in the dark as those who thought they held power celebrated their rule with debauchery and violence. It was true, the Imperial family was very powerful, with an army large enough to burn a world in the fires of war. Yet, in an empire of 14 worlds, where your people numbered into the high billions, a single army would not be enough if more than one world rose in revolt.
And that is exactly what happened.
His father had been a man strongly supporting neutrality, because to lean either way would lead to destruction in his mind. Yet what he failed to understand was that neutrality was a danger all on its own. A neutral party was nothing but a prospective enemy to both sides, and they would have to fend off both sides should they turn their attention to them. So Kargon prepared, like he always did, cities turned to fortresses quietly and great weapons of war were forged beneath the earth by those loyal to his family, those he had grown up knowing and those who souls he could see glowing with the light of loyalty unshaken. He hid this all from his family, knowing his father’s stance would never approve of his approach to things. He loved his father, his family, and he of course treasured his father’s advice and wisdom but it was foolish to trust in the honor of other men. Nothing could be more two faced than man, especially those who craved power and pleasure that could be derived from that power.
He armed his men with weapons of his own creations, great underground forges produced arms of a design pulled from the depths of his mind. Great weapons the size of the common firearm that launched blue flaming orbs that could destroy even great tanks in a single shot. Powerful rifles that disintegrated matter on contact with great heat rays, before causing powerful explosive reactions. He even produced great guns that fired shells that bored into targets before detonating, in great numbers simply due to the fact that all the raw material needed to make these weapons could be found in great quantity on Orichalcum. Every army on his world, every man and woman that served his family, each of them would be armored and armed with weapons that far surpassed the common Firerifle used by the armies of the Empire up to this point.
Though he could hide his secret forges from his father’s attention, he could not hide the fact he had the councilors of the world pushing recruitment into the army higher. Their army swelled from a handful of millions to nearly 100 million souls within 3 years. He revised the fighting doctrine, making it focus on more Defensive aspects. Fortress Reinforcement, Siege Defense, Counter Engineering and finally the art of the Offensive Counter Siege, in order to inflict maximum damage to any fool brave enough to endanger their homes. He in turn ensured that they were armed with the knowledge and tools needed to learn how to operate certain weapons that were ‘in development’. They would be ready, when the flag of war was raised, to take up their arms.
Yet he was not naive, he knew his army as greatly armed and armored as it was, could not compare to the sheer size of the army of the Empire. So he focused on the defending tactics of the men, each of them able to fight in confined spaces like men possessed, their defensive tactics were paramount and unparalleled. There was no fortress they could not defend, no city they couldn’t wage defensive urban war in, and when the time came, they could counter push like the angels of vengeance. They would not be restrained, they would not be stopped, his men would be the wall that the enemy broke upon, and the Fortress which would rise up and crush the invader like a hulking behemoth that had been roused to anger.
Yet 7 years into his work, not even 6 months after his projects reached their final stages, did the first shot of war happen. The Imperial Army invaded another world, and began to tear into its population and defenders, and then the Loyalists and Dissenters went to war as the fight for power erupted. Yet they could not allow unclear loyalties to remain unchecked, and the greatness of Kargon’s craft was tested. His father had been leading a world council, to bring forth a proper response to secure their position. Kargon felt the presence first, the hulking 13ft behemoth rising up as he grabbed his mother and siblings and tucked them against his form. His great brass coated arms wrapped them up as ruby red light poured in from every window and began to mow into those unprotected bodies.
The smell of burning flesh, and Ionizing heat filled the room with repeated flashes of light as those lasers were dissipated on the Ion Fields protecting the members of Kargon’s inner circle, his mothers own field which sheltered Kargon and his family and those in his immediate vicinity. His father had however been bombarded with the most concentration of shots. His eyes shot up from his position, taking in the sight of his Father’s chair being disintegrated under the barrage. Yet as he heard the beating of feet, many men rushing towards the room, he felt his concerns shift as he pressed a hidden tile under the table, a spot on the floor rising up to reveal a space below.
“You must go Mother, take Elias and Rodham into the hidden rooms. Seal the doors behind you, and I will come and get you after. Do not leave them once you get there. The Defenses will protect you from any that follow until my arrival.” he said as his voice came out like boiling thunder. His eyes began to burn as his anger had been stoked, how dare they. How dare the foul wretches strike at his family! His mother, oh his beloved mother caressed his face once before nodding. ‘Be Safe Son.’ were the words that left her lips as he saw her move down into the hole. Rodham looked on the verge of tears, watching his elder brother for a moment before Elias took his hand and followed into the tunnel with their mother. The door sealed shut, but not before he heard his brother Elias, “Kick their asses Kargon!” he shouted back causing a smile to cross his face. Standing up, he reached up and ripped his tunic from his body, revealing ash grey skin and arms coated in a solid bronze that seemed to be spreading to his chest from his shoulders. “Aye, I shall.” he said with a low voice as his eyes began to bleed fire as his skin began to illuminate, small flames washing off his skin as he pressed a button on a ring he wore, a bright flash of light filled the room and in his hand appeared a hammer of great size, covered in black Iron and brass sigils. The Head was cast in Obsidian, and had a flaming thunderbolt on it, twisting the handle a certain way caused a red field to project over the weapon as lightning began to cascade off it.
“Son.” he heard from behind him, and yet he did not look back as he focused on the approaching footsteps. His father came to his side, as the other survivors all began to pull out their weapons. Blades that crackled, weapons that glowed with dark green or blue light. “I know father, but we need to focus for a moment. The amount of incoming fire that entered the room, I counted 78 different firing angles. I hear a minimum of over 100 distinct footsteps, they have come in overwhelming force to eliminate the entire leadership of the world.” he said as he looked around, seeing roughly 8 people dead. “They have only partially succeeded, they must finish here or they will have lost the element of surprise. Regardless, I will finish them off. Storkas, Malburn, take my father with you and head to the underground command center. It is time, engage all protocols and see to the arming of the troops and activate the orbital sentries. We are locking Orichalcum down.” he spoke as he began to step forward as some men followed behind him, approaching the door to make themselves ready. His father was dragged along with a few of his men, as they entered another set of bolt holes before the stone sealed behind them.
Kargon slammed his hand on the wall, a plate depressed itself as the windows which had been broken by lasfire sealed themselves with great metal shutters. The building walls began to belch great gouts of lava out, the screams of dozens of men began to fill the air as the climbers were burned from this world in the most horrid way possible. The magma flow that he routed beneath the palace worked smoothly, that was good, he had been meaning to test that feature at some point. He would make sure to come up with a system to be able to activate those features remotely from the command center at some point.
It was on this thought that the first black and green armored soldier made its way onto the walkway leading up to the council chambers. Kargon looked at him, and saw the man falter as he laid eyes on the behemoth in front of him with a flaming, sparking hammer. "You shot at my Father, you endangered my mother and brothers. You have chosen to take these cowardly actions. And I.....am angry. What comes next is on the heads of you and your leaders." he said as he felt his anger boil up before he opened his mouth once more.
Kargon spoke, his voice shaking as his anger boiled over like an erupting volcano. He could see the immediate shift in attitude, before dozens more men slammed into his back as they all rushed forward. Many of them had similar reactions, it was this small display that gave the men behind him their moment as plasma fire and volkite bursts passed by his body and slammed into the oncoming crowd of men. Their standard flak armor was not meant for such high impact/high heat weapons and the first few ranks simply evaporated and boiled into exploding piles of flesh, and the ensuing panic was only exacerbated by that 13 foot giant flinging himself forward at a speed that should not exist for such a large creature.
His hammer tore through people like they were paper. The great stone and brass walls of the palace were painted with the viscera of war from that moment. Orichalcum was at war with the Empire of fools. His voice roared, the walls shaking as his anger burned ever brighter. And as if fueled by it, the fire rolling off him responded.
As he slaughtered them, fire began to ooze off him in great gouts, incinerating those too unfortunate to not meet their end by his hammer. Their skin melting, their bones boiling away in great flashes of explosive vapor. The sound was like being in a thunderstorm, the sizzling heat of thunder mixed with the boiling before getting capped off by the clap of thunderous explosions as the water in their bodies combusted into vapor causing the poor things know as their bodies to immediately fail to hold back the forces working on them. The men who watched as their allies died, could only run, many of them soiling themselves in fear at the unearthly dread that filled them.
Their minds, once hardened to the joys of war turned to their most basic instincts, the need for survival. Yet there would be no escape for them. The ones most coherent, were screaming madness as they unloaded their weapons into the backs of their own allies trying, hoping, to bring down the monster. “Fire Giant!” one screamed as his autogun continued to unload before only empty clicks filled the air. He felt his suit catch fire yet he did not have time to scream, his helmet melting to his face as the metal and plastic mixed together and adhered to him burning away the flesh and making a perfect cast of his skull before it also melted away under the heat leaving him nothing more than a boiling puddle that evaporated.
The flames leaving him caressed his skin like a lover, and he could not even feel it as the wisps looked like wings trailing behind him. Stepping out onto the balcony that led to the city square, he saw the men that had fled being gunned down by his troops as they began to secure the area. His fire died away as he saw the threat neutralized as he had intended. Two of the assassins had been restrained, and would be interrogated but he already knew who they belonged to. They bore the armor of the Empire, but had used the tactics employed by the dissenters. They had hoped to take his world with minimal loss of fighting force on either side, in order to turn his world against the empire. It was clever, but a base strategy that any novice tactician would use. He knew however that the Empire would not leave him be either, so he would simply take the most obvious choice.
He would destroy them both, and rebuild from the ashes. From a burning wreck of a failed empire, he shall forge a Bulwark among the stars.
And that is exactly what happened.
His father had been a man strongly supporting neutrality, because to lean either way would lead to destruction in his mind. Yet what he failed to understand was that neutrality was a danger all on its own. A neutral party was nothing but a prospective enemy to both sides, and they would have to fend off both sides should they turn their attention to them. So Kargon prepared, like he always did, cities turned to fortresses quietly and great weapons of war were forged beneath the earth by those loyal to his family, those he had grown up knowing and those who souls he could see glowing with the light of loyalty unshaken. He hid this all from his family, knowing his father’s stance would never approve of his approach to things. He loved his father, his family, and he of course treasured his father’s advice and wisdom but it was foolish to trust in the honor of other men. Nothing could be more two faced than man, especially those who craved power and pleasure that could be derived from that power.
He armed his men with weapons of his own creations, great underground forges produced arms of a design pulled from the depths of his mind. Great weapons the size of the common firearm that launched blue flaming orbs that could destroy even great tanks in a single shot. Powerful rifles that disintegrated matter on contact with great heat rays, before causing powerful explosive reactions. He even produced great guns that fired shells that bored into targets before detonating, in great numbers simply due to the fact that all the raw material needed to make these weapons could be found in great quantity on Orichalcum. Every army on his world, every man and woman that served his family, each of them would be armored and armed with weapons that far surpassed the common Firerifle used by the armies of the Empire up to this point.
Though he could hide his secret forges from his father’s attention, he could not hide the fact he had the councilors of the world pushing recruitment into the army higher. Their army swelled from a handful of millions to nearly 100 million souls within 3 years. He revised the fighting doctrine, making it focus on more Defensive aspects. Fortress Reinforcement, Siege Defense, Counter Engineering and finally the art of the Offensive Counter Siege, in order to inflict maximum damage to any fool brave enough to endanger their homes. He in turn ensured that they were armed with the knowledge and tools needed to learn how to operate certain weapons that were ‘in development’. They would be ready, when the flag of war was raised, to take up their arms.
Yet he was not naive, he knew his army as greatly armed and armored as it was, could not compare to the sheer size of the army of the Empire. So he focused on the defending tactics of the men, each of them able to fight in confined spaces like men possessed, their defensive tactics were paramount and unparalleled. There was no fortress they could not defend, no city they couldn’t wage defensive urban war in, and when the time came, they could counter push like the angels of vengeance. They would not be restrained, they would not be stopped, his men would be the wall that the enemy broke upon, and the Fortress which would rise up and crush the invader like a hulking behemoth that had been roused to anger.
Yet 7 years into his work, not even 6 months after his projects reached their final stages, did the first shot of war happen. The Imperial Army invaded another world, and began to tear into its population and defenders, and then the Loyalists and Dissenters went to war as the fight for power erupted. Yet they could not allow unclear loyalties to remain unchecked, and the greatness of Kargon’s craft was tested. His father had been leading a world council, to bring forth a proper response to secure their position. Kargon felt the presence first, the hulking 13ft behemoth rising up as he grabbed his mother and siblings and tucked them against his form. His great brass coated arms wrapped them up as ruby red light poured in from every window and began to mow into those unprotected bodies.
The smell of burning flesh, and Ionizing heat filled the room with repeated flashes of light as those lasers were dissipated on the Ion Fields protecting the members of Kargon’s inner circle, his mothers own field which sheltered Kargon and his family and those in his immediate vicinity. His father had however been bombarded with the most concentration of shots. His eyes shot up from his position, taking in the sight of his Father’s chair being disintegrated under the barrage. Yet as he heard the beating of feet, many men rushing towards the room, he felt his concerns shift as he pressed a hidden tile under the table, a spot on the floor rising up to reveal a space below.
“You must go Mother, take Elias and Rodham into the hidden rooms. Seal the doors behind you, and I will come and get you after. Do not leave them once you get there. The Defenses will protect you from any that follow until my arrival.” he said as his voice came out like boiling thunder. His eyes began to burn as his anger had been stoked, how dare they. How dare the foul wretches strike at his family! His mother, oh his beloved mother caressed his face once before nodding. ‘Be Safe Son.’ were the words that left her lips as he saw her move down into the hole. Rodham looked on the verge of tears, watching his elder brother for a moment before Elias took his hand and followed into the tunnel with their mother. The door sealed shut, but not before he heard his brother Elias, “Kick their asses Kargon!” he shouted back causing a smile to cross his face. Standing up, he reached up and ripped his tunic from his body, revealing ash grey skin and arms coated in a solid bronze that seemed to be spreading to his chest from his shoulders. “Aye, I shall.” he said with a low voice as his eyes began to bleed fire as his skin began to illuminate, small flames washing off his skin as he pressed a button on a ring he wore, a bright flash of light filled the room and in his hand appeared a hammer of great size, covered in black Iron and brass sigils. The Head was cast in Obsidian, and had a flaming thunderbolt on it, twisting the handle a certain way caused a red field to project over the weapon as lightning began to cascade off it.
“Son.” he heard from behind him, and yet he did not look back as he focused on the approaching footsteps. His father came to his side, as the other survivors all began to pull out their weapons. Blades that crackled, weapons that glowed with dark green or blue light. “I know father, but we need to focus for a moment. The amount of incoming fire that entered the room, I counted 78 different firing angles. I hear a minimum of over 100 distinct footsteps, they have come in overwhelming force to eliminate the entire leadership of the world.” he said as he looked around, seeing roughly 8 people dead. “They have only partially succeeded, they must finish here or they will have lost the element of surprise. Regardless, I will finish them off. Storkas, Malburn, take my father with you and head to the underground command center. It is time, engage all protocols and see to the arming of the troops and activate the orbital sentries. We are locking Orichalcum down.” he spoke as he began to step forward as some men followed behind him, approaching the door to make themselves ready. His father was dragged along with a few of his men, as they entered another set of bolt holes before the stone sealed behind them.
Kargon slammed his hand on the wall, a plate depressed itself as the windows which had been broken by lasfire sealed themselves with great metal shutters. The building walls began to belch great gouts of lava out, the screams of dozens of men began to fill the air as the climbers were burned from this world in the most horrid way possible. The magma flow that he routed beneath the palace worked smoothly, that was good, he had been meaning to test that feature at some point. He would make sure to come up with a system to be able to activate those features remotely from the command center at some point.
It was on this thought that the first black and green armored soldier made its way onto the walkway leading up to the council chambers. Kargon looked at him, and saw the man falter as he laid eyes on the behemoth in front of him with a flaming, sparking hammer. "You shot at my Father, you endangered my mother and brothers. You have chosen to take these cowardly actions. And I.....am angry. What comes next is on the heads of you and your leaders." he said as he felt his anger boil up before he opened his mouth once more.
"I am Kargon, and you shall burn!"
Kargon spoke, his voice shaking as his anger boiled over like an erupting volcano. He could see the immediate shift in attitude, before dozens more men slammed into his back as they all rushed forward. Many of them had similar reactions, it was this small display that gave the men behind him their moment as plasma fire and volkite bursts passed by his body and slammed into the oncoming crowd of men. Their standard flak armor was not meant for such high impact/high heat weapons and the first few ranks simply evaporated and boiled into exploding piles of flesh, and the ensuing panic was only exacerbated by that 13 foot giant flinging himself forward at a speed that should not exist for such a large creature.
His hammer tore through people like they were paper. The great stone and brass walls of the palace were painted with the viscera of war from that moment. Orichalcum was at war with the Empire of fools. His voice roared, the walls shaking as his anger burned ever brighter. And as if fueled by it, the fire rolling off him responded.
As he slaughtered them, fire began to ooze off him in great gouts, incinerating those too unfortunate to not meet their end by his hammer. Their skin melting, their bones boiling away in great flashes of explosive vapor. The sound was like being in a thunderstorm, the sizzling heat of thunder mixed with the boiling before getting capped off by the clap of thunderous explosions as the water in their bodies combusted into vapor causing the poor things know as their bodies to immediately fail to hold back the forces working on them. The men who watched as their allies died, could only run, many of them soiling themselves in fear at the unearthly dread that filled them.
Their minds, once hardened to the joys of war turned to their most basic instincts, the need for survival. Yet there would be no escape for them. The ones most coherent, were screaming madness as they unloaded their weapons into the backs of their own allies trying, hoping, to bring down the monster. “Fire Giant!” one screamed as his autogun continued to unload before only empty clicks filled the air. He felt his suit catch fire yet he did not have time to scream, his helmet melting to his face as the metal and plastic mixed together and adhered to him burning away the flesh and making a perfect cast of his skull before it also melted away under the heat leaving him nothing more than a boiling puddle that evaporated.
The flames leaving him caressed his skin like a lover, and he could not even feel it as the wisps looked like wings trailing behind him. Stepping out onto the balcony that led to the city square, he saw the men that had fled being gunned down by his troops as they began to secure the area. His fire died away as he saw the threat neutralized as he had intended. Two of the assassins had been restrained, and would be interrogated but he already knew who they belonged to. They bore the armor of the Empire, but had used the tactics employed by the dissenters. They had hoped to take his world with minimal loss of fighting force on either side, in order to turn his world against the empire. It was clever, but a base strategy that any novice tactician would use. He knew however that the Empire would not leave him be either, so he would simply take the most obvious choice.
He would destroy them both, and rebuild from the ashes. From a burning wreck of a failed empire, he shall forge a Bulwark among the stars.
